Netgear R8000 and dd-wrt

[hifiguy]

I have a Netgear X6 R8000 router which is having issues when I use smart connect. My android tablet continuously drops the connection, and it takes several attempts for it to connect to my network, just to disconnect after a while. I am using the latest firmware. For the first time yesterday I disabled smart connect and that seems to have fixed the issue.

My question is, would it be a good idea to try dd-wrt firmware on the R8000? Is there a specific version I should try? I've read about a Kong version. I am wondering if it would fix the smart connect issue I am having with the Netgear firmware, and if it would provide better general performance. Also if I were to try it and I wanted to go back to the Netear firmware, would there be any problems doing that?

I appreciate your advice and feedback, thanks.

 

[bobsilver]

I will assume your tablet is connecting to the 5ghz band which is where SmartConnect operates. SmartConnect may just not work well with your tablet. It may be causing switching from the low to high channel or vis a versa that causes your tablet to drop. Some devices dont do well with this technology.

That said I would use the router with SmartConnect turned off. You then will have 2 5ghz SSID's each on different channels that you can connect to as you see fit. While not as elegant it works fine that way.

Regarding DD-WRT I am not sure if it even has SmartConnect. You can always try it and if it doesnt work better just revert back to the stock firmware. Nothing will be harmed.

You also want to check out http://www.myopenrouter.com/ which is all about open source firmware for Netgear routers. That is also where you can download the latest and ask questions in their forums.

Bob Silver
Netgear Networking Advisor

 

[husky55]

Hi Bob, read most of your posts about Netgear on AVS forum. It's just me, but I found the SmartConnect to be a pain, i.e it keeps switching and interrupting. Not sure if Broadcom has worked out all the bugs yet.